Musical training: On the edge of forever, ready to run

Province marathon team member Edith Guay, principal of Simon Cunningham Elementary in Surrey, practises for the May 6 Vancouver Marathon.Photo by
Les Bazso - PNG

For some runners, music is part of the essentials. For others, it's all about silence.

Their feet rotate, guided by the beat of their running tempo. They're pushed and pulled by each measured breath. The head just lets time escape. They just let it run.

Edith Guay is one of those runners. The 51-year-old Surrey elementary school principal, one of five runners on The Province marathon team, will head into her 12th marathon at the May 6 BMO Vancouver Marathon.

The last four months have seen Guay abide by the training plan. All the preparation, she said, will test a runner in the final 10 kilometres.

Even for Guay, a veteran runner who ran her first marathon in 1998 on the old course of the very same marathon, the pain of the final kilometres need nothing more than a good song.

"Usually the last 10 km is when I have a special song in my head that I sing myself," Guay said. "I sing to really keep detached from my body and concentrate on my speed."

This year, the song is "The Time of My Life" by David Cook - not to be confused with Patrick Swayze's hips and the movie Dirty Dancing.

The chorus goes: "And I'll taste every moment and live it out loud ... this is the time to be more than a name or face in the crowd - this is the time of my life."

Over the years, the two-time Boston marathoner has grown into a routine.

Guay puts her clothes down the night before, pinning the number into place. She has a good breakfast in the morning, the exact meal she's had every week on the day of her long runs.

Ahead of the race, she positions herself between pace bunnies - not too fast, not too slow. She avoids all temptation to go fast. She takes her walk breaks: one-minute walk per 10-minute run.

She does this for the first 32 km. Then comes the last 10 km.

"It's always hard. It's mind over body," Guay said of her final stretch, whether it's the first time, or the 12th.

Guay planned to run the last 10 km of the marathon this weekend to picture the finish line and to get an image of her children and friends there to cheer her on.

"The last vision, the end of your race, the finish, the people there that you have waiting for you. That's when the crowds come around you," Guay said. "That's when the real music starts.

"It makes a difference," Guay said. "It makes a big, big difference."

Ready for the marathon and to head into the crowd, the final few verses of her silent song play: "And now I'm on the edge of forever, ready to run."

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